5.1 News: New Scenario Rewards, Old-World Boss Nerfs

Today's news round up covers new Blizzard features for scenarios and pet battles, information on just how exactly some of the old-world bosses were nerfed for soloing purposes, and insights into why LFR no longer shows you progress status when joining. We also have some information on new scenario rewards: some epics and recolored armor for transmog fun.

Updated Scenario Loot

Pre 5.1, Сундук с сокровищами was rewarded for completing scenarios: it had a small chance to contain ilvl 463 armor with random stats.

In 5.1, players get Большой сундук с сокровищами from completing any random scenario. This still can contain Сундук с сокровищами, as well as wider variety of loot. Lucky players can find an ilvl 476 epic item or an ilvl 463 weapon, while less-lucky players get an ilvl 450 armor item.

While the 476 items have the same color scheme as the old 463 items for that role, the 450 items have a different color scheme. So if you were say a Разбойник that never had a shot at colors used only for healing leather before, now you can collect that look!

Click on the links below to see the full item sets for each listing and be sure to use our 3D Modelviewer to preview all the armor looks.

Game Guide Updates: Pets and Mounts, Scenarios

Blizzard

Starting today, World of Warcraft’s game guide is home to a new two new sections: An interactive Pets and Mounts gallery, and a new section for the scenarios of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

Pets and Mounts

This section includes information to help you find your ideal mount or staff your perfect pet battle team, including mount speed and all battle pet statistics (family, starting attributes and abilities). It lists the zones that they can be purchased, found or (in the case of pets) tamed in. If you need to buy a particular pet or mount from a vendor, you’ll see its gold cost (unaffected by reputation discounts) and be able to preview its look. Everything included on this page is pulled dynamically from World of Warcraft, so any future changes to abilities or costs will be reflected here when they’re made in-game.

We’ll continue updating this page in the future as new pets, new pet skills and more exotic mounts find their way into Azeroth. Take a look and start your wild hunt now!

Scenarios

We created our new scenario guide pages to make it easier for you to get into the new scenarios and to provide you with all the information necessary to get the most out of this new content. Each page features a bit of backstory for each scenario as well as screenshots, maps, and an overview of each scenario’s objectives and rewards.Check out the new scenario pages now!

Old-World Boss Nerfs

Daxxarri

Нечистотон, Twin Emperors, К'Тун, Ал'ар and Reliquary of Souls should be easier to kill now. The developers applied a hotfix during the night. So, if you haven't gone to К'Тун yet today, you should!Ал'ар is no longer immune to fire damage.

Regarding Калесгос, at this point we don't know if the developers have any plans to change him or any other bosses, but we'll ask them and share with you any news if that's the case :-)Yes, as paladin, I am interested in Нечистотон changes as well.

Last time i was in there i noticed his destroy egg ability had no cooldown and that you didn't lose channeltime if hit.But it was still impossible due to the amount of adds that spawn, before you even get to clear half the room Бритвосмерт Неукротимый is dead.I'd say you need to practice the most effective path and use his ability to sleep dragonkins. Бритвосмерт Неукротимый can also take quite a beating, but at some point you'll need to clear adds off yourself and himself (careful of not blowing him up).

Node Respawn Nerf

Daxxarri

Community ManagerEdited by Daxxarri on 11/29/12 5:40 PM (PST)Mining and Herb spawn rates in Pandaria have been reduced by approximately 50% in patch 5.1, and this is indeed an intended change. These are in addition to the hotfix that was applied in 5.0.5 to lower the spawn rate of Ghost Iron.

In all of these cases, the reduction was prompted because the resources were too abundant, resulting in ore and herbs being undervalued, and also therefore the effort that our herbalists and miners put in to collect each node. We’ll be monitoring the situation, though, and should the current rates prove to be too low then we’ll make further adjustments as necessary.

LFR No Longer Displays Boss Status

Bashiok

Right, so with 5.1 the game no longer tells you how many bosses are left for the group you’re being matched with for Raid Finder (LFR).

To explain why we made the change, let’s go back to the problem everyone was experiencing before. Let’s say a fresh LFR group is put together, they get two bosses down, and then wipe a few times on the third and lose 10 people who think they’re too cool for wiping. Now the group is down to 15, waiting for 10 new people, the queue eventually pops for those 10, and most of them see 2/6 and hit cancel. The raid still isn't full, the matchmaker has to go looking again for more people, and meanwhile as time ticks on people from the original run are getting more frustrated. Maybe a few of them leave, and then there’s even more spots to fill. Plenty of times everyone just gives up and the entire run falls apart, all those people are back in the queue, and they’ll be-damned if they join an in-progress run to fall apart again!

These kinds of things happen all of the time, and in the vast majority of situations it’s simply because people don’t like the idea of joining an in-progress run, even if it would have succeeded.

You may think we’re trying to be underhanded, but the reality is we’re trying to help people be more efficient with their play time. What most people don’t realize is that if they get and complete an in-progress run, the next time they queue they will preferentially be placed into a fresh instance. What everyone should be doing, to be the most efficient, is joining and sticking with their runs to completion. If they join an in-progress group they can catch up on those other couple bosses they missed immediately after, and if they have the time, they’d be wise to down the ones they've already killed again for extra Valor.

The patch has only been out a couple days of course, but personally I think there are some people who don’t realize yet how an in-progress run, and that extra Valor, can directly translate to improved items through the new upgrade system. An in-progress run is very likely better bang for the buck to your character power due to item level upgrades than hitting cancel over and over to get a fresh run and then hoping for a boss drop.

There are of course other issues that cause LFR groups to fall apart, like boss difficulty, and those are the kinds of things we’re looking at bigger solutions for. Losing a couple people doesn’t need to mean the whole run is doomed.Matching random people together with differing interests, preferences, and goals is always going to mean people will be leaving when they feel they want to for... whatever reasons they deem necessary. If you want to have a group that's organized and sticks together, queuing to be matched with strangers has a higher chance of not offering that experience. What we can do, and will continue to strive for, is lessening the social burdens of being matched with strangers in an unknown situation and reducing some of the behaviors that may cause more degenerative uses of the tool - ideally through positive reinforcement, but that's not always possible.

In any case, I don't think anyone thinks any part of the game is perfect, and so much like everything we do it's going to be an ongoing iterative process. Feedback on what you think we can do to make things smoother for you is always helpful.

Battleground Queuing and Addons

Daxxarri

In patch 5.1, we resolved some issues regarding how Addons interact with the Battleground queue system. It is no longer possible to automate queuing for standard or random Battlegrounds in groups larger than 5. We decided to make this change in order to improve the experience for all players who are queueing into random groups normally and expecting to face similarly random groups, only to find themselves crushed by a full team of coordinated opponents.

We understand that players want to enjoy coordinated team play, and we invite those players to queue into Rated Battlegrounds or play Wargames to have that experience. Players can continue to use Addons to queue for Rated Battlegrounds as well.

Комментарии

Комментарий от Rainemard

on 2012-11-30T16:37:48-06:00

Viscidus is still nigh-impossible to solo for many classes without abilities such as or Войско мертвых - there just isn't enough time to get in the required hits. As for Razorgore, I had a friend with me so I didn't spend too much time with a solo attempt... lets just say the first one ended rather explosively. The other bosses seem to be sufficiently nerfed, from my perspective.

I find it funny that they're nerfing boss encounters, but seem to be overlooking the very worst part of BWL, EVER.

Комментарий от Alfa

on 2012-11-30T18:38:39-06:00

I solo'd Viscidus without the army, so it's quite easier but the twins still give me problems.

Комментарий от Edradred

on 2012-11-30T19:12:06-06:00

Soloing viscidus was extremely easy, thanks to the new nerfs from blizzard. Im not quite sure what Rainemard is complaining about. I used no army, I used no cooldowns of any sort except for remorseless winter. As an unholy DK, icy touch and remorseless winter (im not sure this had any effect at all) were the only frost abilities I used, and I was able to easily down him, starting at 50% hp (from failing many times to ascend his stupid ramp). Any news on whether twins are soloable?

Комментарий от Interest

on 2012-11-30T22:55:55-06:00

Viscidus is still nigh-impossible to solo for many classes without abilities such as or Войско мертвых - there just isn't enough time to get in the required hits. As for Razorgore, I had a friend with me so I didn't spend too much time with a solo attempt... lets just say the first one ended rather explosively. The other bosses seem to be sufficiently nerfed, from my perspective.

I find it funny that they're nerfing boss encounters, but seem to be overlooking the very worst part of BWL, EVER.

I hate that Suppression crap.

Комментарий от Madriel

on 2012-11-30T23:07:08-06:00

The twins were soloable pre-nerf. (2H frost dk) Just run in, spam Obliterate the melee twin, empower rune weapon, repeat, dead. Army if need be I guess, though I didn't use it personally.

Комментарий от Balthazaurus

on 2012-12-01T03:07:25-06:00

For Viscidus, classes without any frost abilities should visit Warsmith Sigfinna. She sells white items with a frost enchantment on them. I was able to do it as a Retribution Paladin using Brunnhildar Great Axe to freeze it, and a 1-handed weapon with a 2.40 speed to shatter it.

Комментарий от Alfa

on 2012-12-01T08:03:26-06:00

Yea c'thun definitely is solo'able :)

Комментарий от cucmw5

on 2012-12-01T12:57:06-06:00

Suppression rooms were a pain, to be sure, back in the day. But worst? (Oh, you mean to level-cap farmers.)

I remember looking forward to the least in BWL was Chrommaggus debuffs and having enough Sand.

Комментарий от tr1gger

It is soloable...as long as RNG is nice to you; read the comments here in the data base about people soloing the event. Ive never done it, but RNG hates me so it's expected.

I too have never had any luck getting passed it /shrug

Комментарий от oldnewb

on 2012-12-02T03:49:34-06:00

The chess event is definately soloable,I have soloed it many times and i'm not exactly an uber gamer.You just need a bit of luck with the rng.It will usually take 2-3 tries to get it right.

Комментарий от CheshireSmile

on 2012-12-02T05:09:59-06:00

Solo'd the Twins as a 90 hunter in 455 gear. Used an agility flask for added damage to out-dps the heal.

Комментарий от Demonicchoas

on 2012-12-02T05:27:50-06:00

Soloing the chest boss is easy. Just hop on the guards infront of the warcheif and warlock to give them somewhere to move out of the fire. Shoot them till they get close with the warlock. Then sit there and cleave it all down with the warcheif. If worse comes to worse hop on the priest guys and heal him.

Комментарий от wargh0st

on 2012-12-02T07:03:34-06:00

I really don't see why everyone is complaining.... Most of these bosses were soloable already with a bit of an effort. Now they are even easier to do. And yes the chess event can be solo'd, in fact it has been for a very long time! Looks like everyone wants to /faceroll through everything and collect the spoils.

Комментарий от silverhazed

on 2012-12-02T07:31:35-06:00

Soloing Chess is tricky but very possible. The Twin Emperors are soloable too - lvl 90 prot pally with ilvl481 gear. Just dps thru the heals and u'll get there. Fastest time for me was just over 10mins. Just wedge urself in a corner beside the stairs - not at top of stairs as u'll still get knocked out of that corner, but in corner beside bottom of any stairs.

Комментарий от Wirxaw

on 2012-12-02T08:12:01-06:00

I really don't see why everyone is complaining.... Most of these bosses were soloable already with a bit of an effort. Now they are even easier to do. And yes the chess event can be solo'd, in fact it has been for a very long time! Looks like everyone wants to /faceroll through everything and collect the spoils.

The chess event is definately soloable,I have soloed it many times and i'm not exactly an uber gamer.You just need a bit of luck with the rng.It will usually take 2-3 tries to get it right.

Gave up after ~10 attempts with a friend. Multiple times.

Soloing the chest boss is easy. Just hop on the guards infront of the warcheif and warlock to give them somewhere to move out of the fire. Shoot them till they get close with the warlock. Then sit there and cleave it all down with the warcheif. If worse comes to worse hop on the priest guys and heal him.

Thanks for advice, except for warchief is often cornered and nuked down one way or another by cheats. If you leave him to heal - kiss the game goodbye, as the cheats will kill the rest meanwhile.

Комментарий от spiny64

on 2012-12-02T09:28:42-06:00

The LFR no boss display is a very bad idea. A lot of players dont have the time to be repeating raid bosses hoping to finish the raid run. Plus you only get Valor if you kill the final boss, which in a lot of cases is the wipefest that becomes an issue. Now, when I need a full clear, I'll have to kill last boss and then keep hoping for a fresh run. I think this will only increase the number of players with deserter penalty rather than make them stick to a raid in progress. ¬¬

Комментарий от Wirxaw

on 2012-12-02T10:33:54-06:00

Well, the LFR issue is just breaking what is broken. It helps as much as it ruins. What's much worse is the new addon\\bot that detects afk. Sure, nobody likes those, who afk the whole run, but they can be identified by normal means. This new bot, however, announces any delays, even not just afks, and leaves you on judgement of 24 !@#$s that raid alongside. So far I've seen then in 3/4 runs, at least one bot.

So what, now we have to attend as much as the LFR Moloch desires? I do not get loot, nor rank or appreciation for this. People can afk for some trash or part of bossfight, then deal ranked damage or healing. Why 20-30k dps are not affected by this? Or single button healers?

Now we are obliged both by queue randomness(leave - debuff) and tracking bots.

Комментарий от Adamsm

on 2012-12-02T10:47:32-06:00

Honestly....if you aren't gonna run something and carry your weight: Get the hell out and let someone who will into the run.